How to choose a fly screen: the complete buying guide

In short: to choose the right fly screen, five criteria are all you need, and in this order: the type of opening to protect, your measurements, the fitting method (with or without drilling), the quality of the mesh, and your budget. For most homes, tenants included, a made-to-measure magnetic fly screen ticks every box: it fits without drilling in around ten minutes, with no tools, and it comes off cleanly. Your exact price comes from the configurator in a couple of clicks. The rest is made-to-measure in the truest sense: we start from your opening, not from a fixed format.

Let's look at how to make the right choice, without getting the size wrong or paying for something you don't need.

It all starts with the type of opening

This is the starting point, and it shapes everything else. You don't protect a small bathroom window the way you protect a large sliding patio door.

For a window, the window model is the simplest and most affordable option. It fits without drilling, which makes it ideal whether you rent or own. For a door (front, garage, side), the door model opens in the middle and closes on its own behind you, hands empty or full. For a patio door, a French door or a wide opening, the large-opening model is built to cover generous surfaces, right up to the widest sliders. Finally, for an unusual shape (arched, round, bullseye, triangle), only made-to-measure will do: the fly screen is cut in the workshop from your measurements, where no standard format would fit.

If you're still unsure, our guide to the different types of fly screen reviews each solution, and you can also browse the made-to-measure fly screen collection directly.

Fixed, sliding, pleated or magnetic?

Beyond the opening, it's the system that makes all the difference day to day. Each has its own logic, and the right choice depends above all on how often you open it.

System	Ideal for	What you gain	What you accept
Fixed frame (screwed)	Windows you rarely open	Discreet and sturdy	Drilling, and an opening that isn't very practical
Roll-up or sliding	Patio doors and wide openings	Tucks away when not in use	A mechanism to install, a higher price
Pleated	Large openings	Very compact once folded	A floor track, a more technical fitting
Magnetic (the Moskera speciality)	Doors and windows you open often	One-handed opening, automatic closing, no drilling	A model designed for daily use rather than for disappearing into the wall

The strength of magnetic is the MagnetX™ system: the two panels close on their own behind you, even when your arms are full. Or your paws. Miaow. Woof. For a family going through the door fifty times a day, it's a game changer.

With or without drilling: the real tipping point

This is often where the decision is made, and it's Moskera's great strength. A no-drill fly screen is held in place by a magnetic system and a self-adhesive hook-and-loop strip: no holes, no screws, no marks. It won't damage your walls or your window frames, whether they're PVC, aluminium or wood, and it comes off cleanly the day you move out.

In practice, fitting takes around ten minutes, without a single tool, and stays completely reversible. For a tenant, the argument is decisive: you protect your home without having to ask permission to drill. It's all laid out, step by step, in our guide to fitting a fly screen.

Mesh quality, the detail we forget to look at

And yet it's the centrepiece: the mesh stops insects while letting air, light and the view through. And that's precisely where the gap opens up with budget models, which yellow, sag and tear from the very first season.

You can tell a good mesh by its material and its density. At Moskera, it's a PVC-coated E-glass fibreglass fabric: it doesn't rust, doesn't warp and stays supple, which is perfect for magnetic screens. Its density of 18 × 16 threads per inch strikes the right balance between protection, air and light, for a weight of 407 g/m² that gives away a dense fabric, not an entry-level one. It's flame-retardant (M2 fire rating), UV-treated (S1 index) so it won't yellow with the seasons, and rated for 8 to 20 years. You can see outside at 70 to 75 %, the room stays cool and bright, and the mesh is non-toxic, without the slightest insecticide: safe for children and animals alike.

In all honesty, an 18 × 16 mesh stops mozzies, flies, wasps and hornets, and our tight weave is fine enough to hold back midges as well. For the vast majority of homes, it's the best compromise between protection and comfort. The curious will find the full detail on our technical specifications page.

Standard or made-to-measure: how to decide

A standard fly screen is enough when your opening lands exactly on a common size. But as soon as the measurements are out of the ordinary, a slightly wide patio door, an unusual shape, an old window frame that was never perfectly square, made-to-measure becomes the only way to guarantee a fit to the millimetre, and therefore a real barrier against insects.

Good news: at Moskera, made-to-measure costs no more than the equivalent standard size. Each fly screen is measured, cut and assembled in our workshop, with no middleman, and the more openings you fit out, the less you pay: -10 % from 2 fly screens, -20 % from 4. The easiest way to find your exact price is still to use our made-to-measure configurator.

Taking your measurements properly

A poorly measured fly screen is useless, so you may as well do it right. Measure the width and height of the opening to the millimetre, and take the measurement in two or three places: old window frames are rarely perfectly straight. Above all, check that the area the screen sticks to, the frame or the wall around it, is flat and clean, so the adhesive strip holds over time. If you're torn between two sizes, go for the larger one: you can always trim, never extend. The configurator even includes calculators that do this work for you, model by model.

How much does it cost?

A made-to-measure window or door fly screen sits at the entry point of the range. A large patio door or a special shape sits higher up the range, quite simply because it needs more mesh and more magnets. Delivery is free, and the quantity discounts bring the total down quickly as soon as you fit out several rooms. For the full detail, type by type, we've laid it all out in our guide to the price of a made-to-measure fly screen.

Which fly screen is right for you?

To sum up, here's the shortcut based on your situation:

• You're a tenant or you don't want to drill: a no-drill, reversible magnetic fly screen.
• You have a patio door or a large slider: the large-opening model.
• A door the whole family goes through all day long: the magnetic door model, which closes on its own.
• A standard window: the window model, the simplest and most affordable option.
• An unusual shape (arched, round, triangle): made-to-measure in special shapes.
• A small budget and a single window to fit out: the entry-level made-to-measure option.

The mistakes that cost you dear

A few good habits will save you nasty surprises. The first mistake is measuring poorly, forgetting the area the screen sticks to or trusting a single measurement on a crooked window frame. The second is choosing on price alone: budget mesh yellows and tears in a season, and works out more expensive in the end. We also too often forget how often the screen will be opened, when a heavily used door calls for a system that closes on its own. Drilling in a rented home is another false good idea, needless when a no-drill fitting exists. Finally, with children or animals, it's best to go for a mesh that's strong, non-toxic and free of insecticide.

Choosing in Australia: heat, season and mozzies

Three things make the Australian choice different from the European one, and they all point the same way.

The heat is the real test. A window frame in full Australian sun gets far hotter than anything a European summer throws at it, and that is exactly where adhesive-only and stick-on velcro systems fail: the glue softens and the screen starts to peel away, usually in the middle of the season. A magnetic seal has nothing to peel, which is why it holds where cheaper fixings give up.

The season runs the other way. Mosquito pressure here builds through spring and peaks around October, not in July. If you are fitting out the house, the useful moment to order is late winter, so the screens are up before the first warm evenings rather than in the middle of them.

Know what the mesh does and does not do. Our mesh stops mozzies, flies, wasps and hornets, and its tight weave is fine enough to hold back midges and sandflies too, which matters if you are up in the tropical north during sandfly season. For the vast majority of Australian homes, standard mesh is the right balance between protection and airflow.

Everything else on this page applies as it stands: measure your own opening, avoid drilling if you rent, and let the configurator work out your exact price.

Frequently asked questions

Find yours in 2 minutes

Measure your opening, choose your model, and discover your price to the centimetre: configure your made-to-measure fly screen →

To go further: the price of a made-to-measure fly screen · the different types of fly screen · how to fit a fly screen · our technical specifications · Fly screen for a roof window or Velux: the made-to-measure solution, no drilling. · Fly Screens in Australia: The Complete Guide